The Clutter Fairy's Reasonably Comprehensive Guide to City of Houston Recycling and Household Waste Disposal

The Clutter Fairy’s Reasonably Comprehensive Guide to City of Houston Recycling and Household Waste Disposal

Editor’s note: We here at The Clutter Fairy are not infallible. If you discover any factual errors or important omissions, or if you find information that’s been updated since we prepared the guide, please let us know so we can update our data.

Material	Where/How the City of Houston Accepts Material for Recycling or Disposal
Material	Curbside Recycling Programs	Environmental Service Centers (North and South)	Westpark Consumer Recycling Center	Kirkpatrick Depository	Central Street Depository	Sunbeam Depository	Windfern Depository	3602 Center Street	Clear Lake Recycling Drop-off Center	Regular trash pickup
Anti-freeze
Batteries, disposable
Batteries, lead-acid
Batteries, rechargeable	See instructions below.
Cardboard
Chemicals—household, lawn, and garden
Electronics
Glass
Medical waste	See instructions below.
Metals
Motor oil
Paint, latex
Paint, oil
Paper
Pharmaceuticals
Plastic									See note.
Tires
Material	Curbside Recycling Programs	Environmental Service Centers (North and South)	Westpark Consumer Recycling Center	Kirkpatrick Depository	Central Street Depository	Sunbeam Depository	Windfern Depository	3602 Center Street	Clear Lake Recycling Drop-off Center	Regular trash pickup

Material Details
Material	Includes	Excludes	Handling or processing instructions
Anti-Freeze	Up to five gallons of used or unused anti-freeze	No anti-freeze liquid or containers are accepted for curbside pickup.	Used anti-freeze can be flushed down toilet, or store until drop-off at an ESC. Limit is five gallons per load.
Batteries, disposable	Household, alkaline-type batteries (AAA, AA, C, D, etc.)		Battery manufacturers now minimize the use of heavy metals from this type of battery, and the City of Houston considers it safe to place these in your normal trash.
Batteries, lead-acid	Lead-acid car-type batteries
Batteries, rechargeable	Rechargeable batteries (NiCd, LiO, etc.)		Rechargeable batteries can be returned to numerous businesses for recycling. These businesses include Radio Shack, Circuit City, and some cellular phone providers. We recommend that you call a particular store prior to your visit to make sure they accept batteries for recycling.
Cardboard	Corrugated cardboard boxes	No food, pizza, or cereal boxes, beverage cartons, gift boxes, or styrofoam containers	Corrugated only. Flatten to maximum dimension of three feet on each side. Must be broken down with packing materials removed.
Chemicals—household, lawn, and garden	Pesticides, fertilizers, herbicides, cleaners, solvents, polishes, stains, and varnishes		Store until drop-off at an ESC.
Electronics	Monitors, televisions, printers, CPUs, keyboards, mice, scanners, fax machines, telephone handsets, VCRs, cellular phones without batteries, and other small consumer electronics		Limit at Westpark Consumer Recycling Center is five electronic components per month.
Glass	Glass food and beverage bottles and jars, clear and colored	No ceramics or plate glass
Medical waste	Waste products produced by healthcare premises, such as hospitals, clinics, and medical offices or in connection with in-home health care services		For help with questions on the disposal of medical wastes, contact the City of Houston Health Department at 713.640.4359. Private companies are available to dispose of medical wastes. They can be found in the Yellow Pages under the heading “Waste Disposal—Medical.”
Metals	Aluminum and “tin” (steel) food cans, empty aerosol cans		Rinse and drain. Labels are okay. Place lids inside larger containers.
Motor oil	Used motor oil and oil filters	No empty used oil containers	Used oil up to five gallons—drain used motor oil and place in original containers
Paint, latex	Latex interior or exterior paint	No oil-based paint	Limit is 10 one-gallon cans and one five-gallon can.
Paint, oil	Paint identified on the label as oil-based or “alkyd”		Paint old boards or newspaper until paint is used up, then discard empty cans and dry painted materials.
Paper	Mail, newspaper, magazines, home and office paper, flyers, computer paper, photocopies, telephone books, envelopes	No dark colored or decorative folders, cards, or envelopes	Newspaper should be loose, dry, and unspoiled. Include all inserts. Remove plastic wrapping and rubber bands.
Pharmaceuticals	Over-the-counter and prescription medicines		The City of Houston recommends: remove unused drugs from containers mix with kitty litter or coffee grounds; place in impermeable containers place containers in trash, to be collected with regular trash flush down toilet ONLY if package inserts instruct that it is safe to do so The Office of National Drug Control Policy also offers a set of guidelines for the Proper Disposal of Prescription Drugs (PDF).
Plastic	Plastic bottles and jugs labeled as recycling types 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 7 *Note: Clear Lake facility accepts only plastic of types 1 and 2.	No plastic bags, toys, packing materials, flower pots, styrofoam, plastic furniture, anti-freeze containers	Bottles must have smaller necks than base, less than three gallons. Remove lids, rinse, and flatten.
Tires	Car tires only	No rims, no 18-wheeler tires	Up to 10 tires at Drop-Off Centers

Recycling and Disposal Facilities and Methods

Curbside Pickup	See the Curbside Pickup web page for more details.
Environmental Service Center North	5614 Neches, Building C, Houston TX 77026 See ESC North web site for service details, hours, and map.
Environmental Service Center South	11500 South Post Oak, Houston TX 77035 See ESC South web site for service details, hours, and map.
Westpark Consumer Recycling Center	5900 Westpark, Houston TX 77057 Telephone: 3-1-1 Site of the ReStore, a book swap, recycling information library, and repository for items of post-consumer and post-industrial scrap for use in art projects, and is available for small groups who would like a presentation on the benefits of recycling. See Westpark CRC web site for service details, hours, and map.
Kirkpatrick Depository	5565 Kirkpatrick, Houston TX 77028 See Kirkpatrick Depository web site for service details, hours, and map.
Central Street Depository	2240 Central, Houston TX 77017 See Central Street Depository web site for service details, hours, and map.
Sunbeam Depository	5100 Sunbeam, Houston TX 77033 See Sunbeam Depository web site for service details, hours, and map.
Windfern Depository	6023 Windfern, Houston TX 77040 See Windfern Depository web site for service details, hours, and map.
3602 Center Street	3602 Center St., Houston TX 77007 Open 24/7 for unattended drop-off. See 3602 Center Street map.
Clear Lake Recycling Drop-off Center	Located near Ellington Field. See Clear Lake Recycling Drop-off Center web site for service details, hours, and map.
Regularly scheduled trash pickup	See the City of Houston eGovernment Center web site for general information about pickup of garbage, yard waste, and heavy trash. Other options: View schedules and maps by ZIP code. Search for your scheduled pickup day by your physical address.